Teaching in the Hood, About the Hood: A Case Study of Teachers in South Central Los Angeles

This study examines how three teachers working at a South Central high school teach critically about race and place. While building on the “spatial turn” in social science, the article draws on Critical Race Spatial Analysis to advance literature at the intersection of race, place, and pedagogy. Additionally, the article utilizes cognitive mapping to understand the teachers’ senses of place and then, through a combination of interviews, observations, and document analysis, examines how they integrate racial-spatial ideas into their teaching. Positing a “critical pedagogy of race and place,” the study concludes with implications for future research and teacher education.